Line-post couplings and marine mooring-towing devices

ABSTRACT

Line-post couplings with marine mooring-towing and other applications having a post with an enlarged head and with mounting members including a fixed or movable clevis member whereby a line with a loop may be quickly attached and detached without the necessity of tieing and untieing knots. The enlarged head may be integral with the post or detachable. The clevis may include a pair of rings and be movable on the post or one ring may be omitted and the lower clevis end affixed to the post or post base. A line anti-fraying member may also be affixed to the clevis. A device may be mounted on a tow truck, dock, or a boat, and with slight modification the device may be mounted on dock pilings and bollards or lock walls with or without a float member.

United States Patent [1 1 McGahee Dec. 25, 1973 LINE-POST COUPLINGS AND MARINE MOORING-TOWING DEVICES [75] Inventor: Welbourne D. McGahee,

Melbourne, Fla.

Primary ExaminerDuane A. Reger Assistant Examiner-Gregory W. OConnor ArtorneyWarren E. Ray

[5 7 ABSTRACT Line-post couplings with marine mooring-towing and other applications having a post with an enlarged head and with mounting members including a fixed or mov-.

able clevis member whereby a line with a loop may be quickly attached and detached without the necessity of tieing and untieing knots. The enlarged head may be integral with the post or detachable. The clevis may include a pair of rings and be movable on the post or one ring may be omitted and the lower clevis end affixed to the post or post base. A line anti-fraying member mayalso be affixed to the clevis. A device may be mounted on a tow truck, dock, or a boat, and with slight modification the device may be mounted on dock pilings and bollards or lock walls with or without a float member.

17 Claims, 20 Drawing Figures PATENTEU EH12 51973 'satuurz Fig-5 Fig.6 [-7917 Fig. /0,

LINE-POST COUPLINGS AND MARINE MOORING-TOWING DEVICES CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS At the time of filing applicant has not filed any related applications.

This invention is related to the rapid coupling and uncoupling of a line with a post without the necessity of tieing or untieing of knots. It has in addition to general utility specific uses in marine mooring and towing. The U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,962,998 to LONG and 3,233,934 to OSBORN may be of interest, but applicant does not know of more pertinent art.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is believed to have been briefly summarized in the ABSTRACT.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of means for rapidly coupling a line and a post without the use of knots.

Another object is to provide a post with diverse mounting means and with an integral or detachable enlarged head for retaining a clevis on said post.

Still another object is to provide a clevis having a pair of rings slidable on the post or one ring with the distal clevis end welded to the post or base.

Another object is to provide line anti-fraying means on said clevis and the additional means of a float or line connected to said clevis for marine use.

Still yet another object is the adaption of the line-post coupling for use with dock pilings or bollards, a mooring spar, a lock, or for towing, especially for towing skiers.

The invention in the foregoing aspects and in other subsidiary or related aspects will be fully apprehended fromthe following detailed description of preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a line-post coupling with initial placement of the line;

FIG. 2 depicts the second step in manipulating the line bight;

FIG. 3 illustrates the line in coupled position and the dotted line indicates the first step in removing the line;

FIG. 4. indicates the second step in removing the line and a modified clevis;

FIG. 5 shows a modified clevis;

FIG. 6 shows a further modification of the clevis;

FIG. 7 is a cross section of FIG. 1 on the line 77;

FIG. 8 discloses a modified post and head;

FIG. 9 is a cross section of another modified head and post;

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a head, post, and base;

FIG. 11 depicts the assembled coupling with modifications of the clevis;

FIG. 12 illustrates an anti-fraying arrangment in the bight of the clevis;

FIG. 13 pictures a dock with the line-post coupling and a pair of modified marine mooring devices;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of one of the posts in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is similar to FIG. 14 showing an articulated post;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of a detail of the articulated joint of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 shows a modification wherein the lower base of a post is banded to a piling member;

FIG. 18 illustrates a marine mooring device suitable for a single piling member;

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a boat showing the use of the line-post couplings as cleats, anchor rode bitts, and towing bitts; and

FIG. 20 depicts a device such as shown in FIG. 13 affixed to the wall of a lock.

Similar reference numerals are applied to similar elements throughout the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In FIG. 1 the numeral 10 generally indicates the linepost coupling device having a post head 11 and bolt head 11a on post 12. The post 12 is affixed to base 13 which may be mounted on a wooden deck by means of screws with body 15 and screw head 14. The base in this and other figures may be welded to metal decks of boats, ships, docks, tow trucks, etc. The post is provided with a clevis 16 with clevis rings 17 encircling the post 12 whereby the clevis is slidable on the post to some extent and the clearance between the rings 17 and the post 12 is sufficient to pass the line 18 having a bight 19. FIG. I shows the initial position of the bight 19, and FIG. 2 shows the bight 19 after it .has been passed through the upper clevis ring 17 and over the post head llb, a modified head integral with the post 12. FIG. 2 also shows the use of bolts with body 21, a bolt head 20, a washer 22, and a nut 23 used in lieu of the screws of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows the line bight 19 after it has been passed over the head 11b, and the line 18 pulled so as to place the bight 19 in the position shown in solid lines in an operative position. The bight 19 shown in dashed lines is the initial position for uncoupling or removing the line from the post 12. FIG. 4 depicts a modified clevis 40 wherein the clevis rings 41, 41, do not close, but have a small space or gap 42, 42. This figure also shows the bight 19 after it has been passed through the clevis ring 41 and up over the post head 11b. A pull on line 18 will cause the bight 19 to pass back through the ring 41 next to the post 12 and free the line. The holes in base 13 and the screws 15 or bolts 21 have been omitted for simplicity. The manner or method in which the line bight is coupled to or uncoupled from the post in FIGS. 1-4 is the same or similar for other embodiments. It is easy to learn, is rapid and effective, and is an important feature of the invention. The line bight is never pulled into a tight knot, hence quick removal is always possible.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 2 except that the clevis is modified whereby modified clevis 52 includes an upper clevis ring 51 with weld 55 and a lower clevis body 53 welded to the post 12 at weld 54. FIG. 6 is another modification wherein the modified clevis 60 has a ring 61 and a lower clevis member 62 is affixed to the base 13 by means of weld 63.

FIG. 7 is a cross section of FIG. 1 on lines 77 illustrating the bolt 72 threaded at 74 engaging nut 73 fixed inside the hollow post 12. The bolt 72 in nut 73 holds the post head 11 on post 12 by means of the bolt head 11a. A screw or bolt hole 71 is exemplary of apertures that may be provided in base 13 for previous figures.

FIG. 8 shows a modification wherein head is integral with a threaded bolt 81 which mates with a bored and threaded hole 83 in post 82. While the head 80 and post 82 may be integral, as disclosed later, it is believed desirable to have a removable head in case the user forgets how to remove the line rapidly in an emergency.

FIG. 9 depicts still another modification wherein the head 90 has an integral bolt 91 passing through the inner hollow portions 93 of post 92 and also passing through the base 94, planking 95 on a boat, dock, lock, tow truck, etc., the washer 96, and held into position by nut 97 in engagement with bolt threads 98. The elements except the head 90 are shown in cross section. The bolt 91 and head 90 may be connected by threads or a weld. Also, the head 90 may be perforated and flattened to receive a through bolt as in FIG. 7.

FIG. is an exploded view of a head 100, post 101, and a base 102 with a hole 103 which may be connected as shown in FIG. 11 with a weld seam 103a and a weld seam 104. In this figure the clevis 105 is provided with rings 106, 108 with welds 107, 109. The clevis 105 is also provided with an anti-fraying member or thimble 110. A modified line anti-fraying device is shown in FIG. 12 in the form of a leather wrapping or plastic sleeve 120.

Turning now to marine applications, FIG. 13, the numeral 10 generally shows the device mounted on a dock planking 130. For light duty the base 13 may be attached to the planking 130 by means of screws as shown in FIG. 1 or by bolts 21 as shown in FIG. 2, but for heavy duty the embodiment depicted in FIG. 9 may be preferred. The piles 131, 132 may be equipped with modified line-post devices for tethering a marine vehicle such as a boat. At the left on pile 131 the elongated post 134 has a post bend 133 with base 141 affixed to pile 131 by any means heretofore disclosed. An upper eye ring 139 has a base 140 similarly affixed to the pile 131. The eleongated post 134, its length depending upon the rise and fall of the tide if near or on an ocean, culminates in a head 138. The clevis 135 with rings 136, 137 is provided with a tethering line 142 connected with the lower clevis ring 137 and with a nail or screw into the top of pile 131 at 143 for the purpose of permitting a boatman to raise the clevis 135 above the water 150. On the right pile 132 the clevis 135 is movable up and down the post 147 by means of flotation collar 144. The bends 146, 148 in post 147 culminate in lower base 145 and upper base 149 which are affixed to the pile 132 by means heretofore described. In the case of pile 131 the bight 19 of the line 18 is first passed through the eye 139, up over head 138, and then placed in the position indicated in FIG. 1. The line bight 19 is then passed through eye 136, eye 139, over the head 138, and the line 18 pulled whereby the bight 19 ends up in the position shown in FIG. 3. This procedure is reversed to remove the line. The device on pile 132 does not use this principle, howegver, and the floatable clevis 135 is useful for the boatman who wishes to secure his line with a seamans knot. The particular advantage of the clevis 135 with the floatation collar 144, which,it will be understood, could be used with the clevis 135 on pile 131 in lieu of the tethering line 142, is that a shorter line may be used between the boat and clevis since line slack need not be provided to take care of the rise and fall of the tide. Clevis 135 on either post 134 or post 147 is free to move up and down with waves or tides and thus lessen the shock on the line and boat fixtures as chocks or bitts.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged view of the post 134 shown on pile 131 in FIG. 13 having a head 138 and wherein base 151 is provided with holes for screws or bolts with beads 152 for use in affixing the base to the pile. The post 154 in FIG. 15 with head 153, base 155, is provided with an articulated joint with bifurcated member 156 connected to lower post member 157 with a bolt having a bolt head 158. This feature, of more utility than post 134 in FIG. 13 or FIG. 14 when excessive currents or tides might tend to cause metal fatigue and breakage in post 134, is shown in more detail in FIG. 16 where the bifurcated member 156 includes arms 160, 161 with a bolt having a head 158 provided on the distal threaded end with a nut 159 to provide free motion between the lower post member 157 and the base 155. Instead of using screws or bolts the post 171 in FIG. 17 with base 173 at the end of lower post bend 172 may be held to pile by means of strapping 174. This feature permits the attachment of the base 173 to a pile without the necessity of using screws or the boring of holes to receive bolts. It is desirable, of course, that all parts of the line-post apparatus be made of material resistant to water and salt water corrosion.

In FIG. 18 the line-post device is adapted for use in mooring a marine vehicle to a pile having a head 181. It will be understood that pile 180 may be adjacent to shore or as, more usual, it may be offshore in a body of water. The post 182 is provided with a head 183 projecting through a ring 184 having a connecting member 185 connected to another ring 186 encircling the pile 180. A lower ring 188 encircling the pile 180 is connected to the upper ring 186 by integral post 187 and to the post 182 by a lower bent portion 189 of the post 182. The clevis 194 provided with rings 195, 196 encircling the post 182 is tethered to floating pickup can 192 with a line 193. The pickup can 192 floating on water 191, as found at offshore mooring buoys, together with the floatation collar insures that the boatman wishing to tieup at a mooring spar will experience a minimum of difficulty. The bight 19 of the line 18 is passed from below upward through ring 184 and over head 183, then placed in the position indicated in FIG. 1 while holding down the line 193 so as not to interfere with subsequent operations. The bight 19 is then passed upward through rings 195, 184, over the head 183 at which point a pull on line 18 will place the bight 19 in the position indicated in FIG. 3. The removal of the line involves a reverse procudure. A marine vehicle moored with this appartus may move around in a circle and always head into the wind as well as move up and down with waves and tides to reduce the likelihood of damage.

FIG. 19 is a plan view of a boat 197 wherein 198, 199, 200, 201, 202, and 203 symbolically represent line-post coupling devices such as shown in FIGS. 1-12 which may be used as or in lieu of cleats, anchor rode bitts, and towing bitts. In particular the tow line 204 (for boats or skiers) connected to double-ended eyespliced towing line 205 may be quickly attached to or detached from the line-coupling devices as explained for FIGS. l-4. The speed with which the eye-spliced towing line 205 may be released is of particular importance. Seaman knots in the lines around the towing bitts may be difficult or impossible to untie especially when the knots in the line have become wet with water or tightened with strain. Such problems are eliminated with the use of the instant invention. It should be noted once again that for light loads the screw-held device of HO. 1 may be suitable, but for heavy loads the boltheld device of FIG. 2 or the device of FIG. 9 may be desirable depending somewhat upon the kind of boat deck. The base of the coupling device may be welded to metal decks if desired.

FIG. depicts the use of a line-post coupling device such as that shown in FIG. 13 on pile 131 adapted to be affixed to the inner bulkhead 210 of a lock wherein the boat enters the lock at one water level and departs at a second water level. In this case the base 211 on post 212 would be near the lower end of the lock while post 212 would be elongated toward the top of the lock and be encircled by post restraining ring 214 near the post head 213. The clevis 215 with rings 216, 217 encircling the post 212 is provided with a floatation collar 218 necessary because of the extreme changes in water level in a lock. The extra ring 214 does not pose additional problems as heretofore explained in connection with FIGS. 13 and 18. This arrangement eliminates the necessity of a deckhand constantly being on the alert to payin or payout the line while the water level in the lock is changing.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that there has been disclosed various embodiments ofa rapid connect-disconnect line-post arrangement of general utility with adaptions of the basic structure for use with a dock, mooring pile, lock, and boasts for towing purposes and other uses.

While for purposes of description I have shown and described specific embodiments of my invention, it will be apprehended by those skilled in the art that changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A line-post coupling device comprising support means, a post means, a base member on the lower end of said post means mounted on said support means, an enlarged head means relative to the diameter of said post means on the upper end of said post means, a clevis member, an upper ring connected to said clevis member and encircling said post means with sufficient clearance therebetween to pass the bight of a line, said clevis member having lower clevis means restraining said clevis member against substantial movement away from said post means.

2. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising apertures in said base member, and screws through said base apertures mounting said base member on said support means.

3. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising apertures in said base member, and bolts through said base apertures mounting said base member on said support means.

4. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said base member is mounted on said support means by welds.

5. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means is hollow and said head means is substantially spherical with a flattened part on top thereof, further comprising a nut fixed inside said hollow post means and a bolt engaging said nut and passing through said head means with a bolt head whereby said head means and said post means are held together.

6. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means and said head means are integral.

7. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 where said post means is welded to said base member and to said enlarged head means.

8. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means includes an internally threaded hole and said head means includes a threaded bolt which cooperates with said threaded hole to hold said head means and said post means together.

9. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means is hollow and said base member has a central aperture, further comprising a threaded bolt integral with said head means passing through said hollow post means, said base member aperture, and said support means, and a nut on said threaded bolt end whereby said coupling device is retained in a rigid position relative to said support means.

10. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lower clevis means is a ring encircling said post means.

11. A linepost coupling device in accordance with claim 10 wherein said rings each contain a small gap.

12. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 11 wherein said ring gaps are filled with a weld.

13. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising an anti-fraying thimble on said clevis member.

14. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising an anti-fraying wrapping on said clevis member.

15. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said support means is a marine vehicle.

16. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 15 wherein a plurality of said couplings are mounted on said marine vehicle including at least a pair of said couplings at the stern of said marine vehicle for towing purposes.

17. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said support means is a marine dock. l 

1. A line-post coupling device comprising support means, a post means, a base member on the lower end of said post means mounted on said support means, an enlarged head means relative to the diameter of said post means on the upper end of said post means, a clevis member, an upper ring connected to said clevis member and encircling said post means with sufficient clearance therebetween to pass the bight of a line, said clevis member having lower clevis means restraining said clevis member against substantial movement away from said post means.
 2. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising apertures in said base member, and screws through said base apertures mounting said base member on said support means.
 3. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising apertures in said base member, and bolts through said base apertures mounting said base member on said support means.
 4. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said base member is mounted on said support means by welds.
 5. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means is hollow and said head means is substantially spherical with a flattened part on top thereof, further comprising a nut fixed inside said hollow post means and a bolt engaging said nut and passing through said head means with a bolt head whereby said head means and said post means are held together.
 6. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means and said head means are integral.
 7. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 where said post means is welded to said base member and to said enlarged head means.
 8. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means includes an internally threaded hole and said head means includes a threaded bolt which cooperates with said threaded hole to hold said head means and said post means together.
 9. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said post means is hollow and said base member has a central aperture, further comprising a threaded bolt integral with said head means passing through said hollow post means, said base member aperture, and said support means, and a nut on said threaded bolt end whereby said coupling device is retained in a rigid position relative to said support means.
 10. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lower clevis means is a ring encircling said post means.
 11. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 10 wherein said rings each contain a small gap.
 12. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 11 wherein said ring gaps are filled with a weld.
 13. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising an anti-fraying thimble on said clevis member.
 14. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising an anti-fraying wrapping on said clevis member.
 15. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said support means is a marine vehicle.
 16. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 15 wherein a plurality of said couplings are mounted on said marine vehicle including at least a pair of said couplings at the stern of said marine vehicle for towing purposes.
 17. A line-post coupling device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said support means is a marine dock. 